Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst-Chapter 105: VOL 2 : How low have you fallen.

"You truly have an appetite that knows no bounds."

Upon hearing Sigrún's words, Thalia sighed and shook her head slightly, then went on to comment in a somewhat bitter tone of voice. After all, what that golden-haired troublemaker was asking her to wager was a very important element required to repair the spatial isolation formation—one that those two wildcats had damaged some time ago.

The Nebulo Tree was an extremely rare tree that only grew in places where the fabric of space was especially thin, allowing it to be nourished by energies from other dimensions. Its fruits, the nebulon seeds, were a very useful resource, mainly used to enhance large-scale spells, to brew potions that strengthen one's mana, as a critical component in forging certain types of magical artifacts, or in the construction and reinforcement of various kinds of formations.

"If you don't want to bet, then why do you even open your mouth?" Sigrún replied with disdain, causing Thalia to look at her in annoyance, while Jessica and Eleonora moved away, talking quietly among themselves about random matters in an elegant and calm manner.

"Hmph." Thalia snorted, intending to leave the annoying Sigrún fighting by herself. But unexpectedly, an idea came to her mind that made her smile mischievously, so she quickly added with elegance.

"But I might be willing to accept if, in return, you wager leaving me alone with Erik for a month. How does that sound?"

"No way, that's out of the question." Sigrún responded instantly in a defensive manner, eyeing Thalia warily. This greatly broadened the smile of the fiery Master, who then asked in a challenging way, staring intensely into Sigrún's blue eyes.

"What, are you afraid of losing?"

"Say what you will, but that's completely nonnegotiable." Sigrún replied with an unusually serious attitude as she walked away, leaving Thalia utterly stupefied. After all, it was the first time she had ever seen Sigrún refuse a bet after having her pride provoked.

Meanwhile, Eleonora, who was a bit removed from the pair of fiery women, looked at Sigrún with a proud expression, seeing how her younger sister was maturing, growing to the point of not letting others' words provoke her—a weakness that until now had been one of her greatest.

"So you're afraid of losing your little disciple, Sigrún?"

Not willing to give up, Thalia commented scornfully, trying to provoke Sigrún. This caused the beautiful, golden-haired Master to halt and turn around to look at her, but instead of Sigrún's anger, what Thalia received from her was a look full of contempt, accompanied by words laden with disdain.

"Are you so desperate to spend some time alone with my disciple? How low have you fallen, Thalia?"

Sigrún's provocative words caused a slight blush to form on Thalia's beautiful face. She clenched her teeth tightly, feeling genuinely embarrassed, but quickly recovered and responded with elegance.

"What a distasteful comment you've made, Sigrún. In reality, I'm only doing it as an altruistic act to guide a talented young man down the right path, in order to prevent him from falling into disgrace under the tutelage of a problematic and inexperienced Master like you."

"Hehehe, keep saying it until you believe it..." Sigrún left those words dripping with scorn as she walked away with grace and elegance, at which Eleonora, from afar, nodded proudly.

For her part, Thalia watched in silence as Sigrún left in the company of Seraphina, while a complicated tangle of emotions formed in her chest. Without a doubt, she had lost that little verbal skirmish a moment ago. The worst part was that she had lost to the one who, to put it elegantly, had the least eloquence among the Masters of the Arcane Order and usually ended up resorting to her fists.

Shortly after, Eleonora, wearing a proud smile on her face, bid farewell to Jessica and Thalia to follow Sigrún and Seraphina. The group of three women headed toward Eleonora's private room with the intention of continuing to watch their beloved Erik's broadcast, while also finalizing the itinerary for their upcoming vacation trip.

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While Erik relaxed in his magical refuge in the middle of a beautiful forest, life was not so easy for the other participants. Such was the case for a beautiful mage with short blond hair and captivating green eyes, who usually looked energetic, but now only a frown could be seen on her lovely face as she traveled over a crystalline ocean on what appeared to be a magic carpet.

"Seriously, why did I end up in the middle of nowhere? I've been traveling half a day and I can't see even a shadow of solid ground..." Elara muttered to herself under her breath, full of frustration, as she looked at the water-filled horizon as far as her eyes could see.

At the moment of teleportation, Elara had fallen onto a tiny island about two kilometers across, seemingly located in the most remote place on the planet. After spending a night there to rest, she had set off before the two suns rose, using the only thing she could—a flying artifact of maximum Revealed-level. But now the suns were at their zenith, and she could not see the slightest trace of firm land, much less a palace.

"Seems like I'll be at this for a while..." Elara sighed softly, trying to take something from her storage ring to pass the time. But just at that moment, the water a short distance ahead of her began to bubble violently.

Elara quickly made her flying carpet change direction, right as a gigantic sea serpent emerged from the ocean, lifting its head at least ten meters above the surface. Immediately afterward, a huge wave at least eight meters tall surged in her direction, so large and fast that there was practically no way to dodge it with her low-level flying artifact, causing her eyes to widen considerably.

"You've got to be kidding me." Elara muttered under her breath, filled with annoyance, as a beautiful, short, and sleek black staff with a red crystal at the top and various engraved runes appeared in her hand.

Wasting not a second, Elara aimed her staff at the wave. At that moment, a beautiful and intricate magic circle formed in front of her, conjuring four fireballs that shot toward the wave, creating a huge hole in it upon impact. Elara quickly passed through that gap, then began ascending into the air while pointing her staff above the serpent's head.

"[Flame of Judgment]..."

With Elara's whisper, a huge magic circle formed where she aimed, surrounded by fire. At the same time, something like water tentacles emerged from the sea, attempting to capture the beautiful mage, who quickly began to dodge them with erratic flying.

Instants later, from the magic circle formed what seemed to be a gigantic spear made of fire, which fell upon the serpent's head, killing it instantly. As a result, the tentacles reverted to water and splashed back into the sea.

While Elara watched the serpent's burned corpse floating on the water, the surface began to bubble violently in hundreds of places all around her. She gripped her staff tightly, her expression darkening as she spoke with incredulity.

"This has to be a joke..."

Seeing different creatures beginning to emerge from the sea, Elara quickly poured large amounts of her mana into the carpet, causing it to accelerate greatly. At the same time, she aimed her staff forward, causing dozens of magic circles to form in the air above the creatures that were starting to surface. At that moment, she spoke in a low voice, looking visibly exhausted.

"[Fiery Plague]..."

With Elara's silent announcement, hundreds of fireballs formed in the air and rained down like an apocalyptic shower upon the emerging creatures, while she fled the area as fast as she could. But more and more sea creatures began to rise from the ocean, with not the slightest intention of letting her escape, which severely soured her expression.

"Well, if that's what you want, then let's play—every last one of you against me!" Elara announced loudly, now visibly angry. She took a potion from her storage ring and downed it in one gulp, then aimed her staff at the sky.

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In the middle of an arid desert with sand of a strange bluish hue. A beautiful young woman with jet black hair and blue eyes stood looking emotionlessly at about ten people in front of her. Her hand resting on the hilt of what appeared to be a gracefully sheathed katana that floated magically near her hip.

"So, to what do I owe such a warm welcome?" Zoe asked in an elegant and calm tone, at which one of the young men in front of her—a robust male with light turquoise hair holding a spear in his hands—responded with a defiant smile.

"We want to extend an invitation to the great direct disciple Laverne, asking her to join our humble group."

"Is that so...?"

Zoe commented casually as she looked over the people before her: all men, and none especially remarkable at the university. In other words, a bunch of weak nobodies. Consequently, there could only be one reason why they dared something like this—a certain very annoying bitch with blue hair. This realization caused Zoe to form a grimace of contempt and irritation as she said.

"Sorry, but you're not qualified for that."

"I see, that's a pity..." The man with the spear, who seemed to be the leader, commented with genuine regret while shaking his head. Then he lowered his center of gravity and took a combat stance, adding in a serious tone.

"Because then we will have to reduce competition."

With the man's words, the other nine took their positions. At that moment, Zoe moved her left hand to make three different hand signals at high speed, simultaneously lowering her center of gravity to take an Iaido stance. Legs slightly bent, one in front of the other, left hand on the katana's scabbard and right hand on the hilt, her body slightly inclined forward. At the same time, a kind of wind mantle enveloped her as she spoke in a cold tone.

"So be it then."

At the moment she spoke, Zoe vanished from sight, only to reappear behind the group. A strong light surrounded the four people who stood in a straight line, then vanished from sight. The leader held his spear in front of him with a grave expression, his arms trembling visibly as if strained by a great impact. Panicking, he shouted.

"Mages!! Attack with everything you've got! Don't let her get close!"

With the young man's words, those on the outermost part of his 'formation' raised their staffs and aimed them in Zoe's direction, while magical circles and runes formed before them. This made the beautiful black-haired girl smile softly, who commented as she drew her katana from its sheath.

"Then let's go all out."

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"Did they really have to drop me in the middle of a damn volcano?!"

A terribly enraged Liliana cursed the heavens as she flew with all her might using a pair of beautiful wings on her back. She sped through a huge volcanic cavern, fleeing what looked like a gigantic humanoid mass of lava chasing her at incredible speed, hurling huge lava bullets to try to shatter the light shield protecting her.

"[Solar Shards]!"

While flying erratically to dodge the lava bullets, Liliana aimed a delicate white wooden staff in her hand toward the lava monster and shouted angrily. This caused several magic circles to form in the air, creating dozens of spheres of light, which fired powerful whitish lasers at different intervals.

The hundreds of lasers hit the monster head-on, and though they only managed to deform its body, that was enough damage to force it to take several minutes to reform completely. This gave Liliana time to get away by a good margin, and she soon reached a passageway where she could see light at the end.

"Finally!!!"

Upon seeing the exit after so long, Liliana gripped her staff tightly and exclaimed with excitement. Shortly after, she managed to leave the gigantic cavern, beholding a beautiful mountain range filled with all kinds of trees in various shapes and colors. The beautiful view allowed her to relax for a moment, but just as she intended to land, the ground began to shake violently.

Dozens of what appeared to be gigantic stone golems emerged from the ground, each with entire ecosystems of trees on their backs. The sight caused Liliana's jaw to drop wide open—wide enough to fit an egg in it—utterly stupefied. She quickly composed herself and flew away with all her might to escape the area, cursing the entire time.

"Are they targeting me especially, or what?!!!!"